Excerpt: Our bill on citizen science (that started with my briefing the awesome AAAS fellow Rose Mutiso in Sen Coons’ office in early 2014) was incorporated into the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (COMPETES) (see Sec 402), which is now on its way for signing by the President. Section 402 makes clear that federal agencies may use crowdsourcing…
Editor’s Choice: A fast-moving area of citizen science is in tackling “Big Data” problems by coupling the ability of machine algorithms to quickly process well-defined images with the human ability to discern patterns in images that are not as well-defined. This article describes Gravity Spy – a recent project that is at the vanguard of exploring the…
Editor’s Choice: One of the more interesting issues in data collection citizen science is how to know whether a “zero counts” measurement really means nothing was there. This paper describes a Bayesian inference method to obtain occupancy probabilities providing a potential solution to this issue. — LFF — Abstract: Occupancy monitoring is particularly suitable for…
Abstract: Pokémon Go, an augmented reality (AR) smartphone game, replicates many aspects of real-world wildlife watching and natural history by allowing players to find, capture, and collect Pokémon, which are effectively virtual animals. In this article, we consider how the unprecedented success of Pokémon Go as a smartphone game might create opportunities and challenges for…
Excerpt: Turning meadow restoration into cleaner air is the goal of researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Soil Science Laboratory at the University recently partnered with the Earthwatch Institute, an international citizen science research organization, to better understand how restoration and plant communities relate to the soil carbon in Sierra Nevada mountain meadows….
Abstract: Although participation of citizen scientists is critical for a success of citizen science projects (a distinctive form of crowdsourcing), little attention has been paid to what types of messages can effectively recruit citizen scientists. Derived from previous studies on citizen scientists’ motivations, we created and sent participants one of four recruiting messages for a…
Abstract: Since 2012, three organizations advancing the work of citizen science practitioners have arisen in different regions: The primarily US-based but globally open Citizen Science Association (CSA), the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA), and the Australian Citizen Science Association (ACSA). These associations are moving rapidly to establish themselves and to develop inter-association collaborations. We consider…
Editor’s Choice: This work makes an excellent case for strategic interplay between citizen science projects and monitoring biodiversity by remote sensing. By combining the power of each method, greater gains can be made on critical biodiversity and conservation goals. –LFF– Abstract: To meet collective obligations towards biodiversity conservation and monitoring, it is essential that the world’s governments and…
Editor’s Choice: I picked this video for two reasons (1) because iNaturalist is a great platform and Mary Ellen Hannibal eloquently explains why platforms such as iNaturalist are key tools for conservation science and (2) because this is a link to a YouTube video, I wanted to highlight the point of Citizen Science Today as…
Abstract: Recent freshwater policy reforms in New Zealand promote increased community involvement in freshwater decision making and management. Involving community members in scientific monitoring increases both their knowledge and their ability to discuss this knowledge with professionals, potentially increasing their influence in decision-making processes. However, these interactions rarely occur because, in particular, of perceptions that…